E a c h
of
u s
h as
the
powe r
to
change
lives .
Points of Light has only one goal: to bring the
power of people to bear where it matters most.
“Americans are an unyieldingly
optimistic people. We have imagination
and gumption. We have the ability
to envision a better world and the
determination to make it happen.”
— Michelle Nunn, CEO, Points of Light
Each year, Points of Light — the largest organization
in the world dedicated to volunteer service —
mobilizes millions of people to take action that is
changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities
and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and
companies, Points of Light engages millions of
volunteers in 30 million hours of service.
Here are just a few of their stories.
2,200
GenerationOn clubs
across the country
TEACHING KIDS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
Our schools, families and communities can do more to
get children started on the path to a lifetime of service.
GenerationOn, Points of Light’s youth service program,
reaches more than 650,000 kids with thousands of ways
to volunteer.
“I
realized that sometimes you can’t wait for change to
happen,” said Cassandra Lin, 13. “You have to make it
happen.”
In 2008, Lin organized a group of young environmentalists
to create Project TGIF: Turn Grease Into Fuel.
“We figured, if we could get people to recycle their cooking
oil, then we could turn it into biofuel and help people heat
their homes,” she said.
The young team distributed 5,300 flyers, 3,500
promotional calendars, and made more than 40
presentations to students and adults. They visited more
than 500 restaurants to ask the owners to donate their
grease. They partnered with grease collectors, biodiesel
refiners and local charitable organizations to collect, refine
and distribute biofuel to families who need emergency
heating assistance.
Cassandra Lin, Project TGIF volunteer
“Sometimes you can’t wait for change
to happen. You have to make it happen.”
— Cassandra Lin, age 13
They also drafted a bill that mandated that all businesses
in Rhode Island recycle their oil. The bill went into effect on
Jan. 1, 2012.
To date, TGIF has collected 100,000 gallons of waste
cooking oil and produced 80,000 gallons of biodiesel. Lin
and her team have distributed 14,600 gallons of BioHeat®
to heat the homes of 146 local families. The group now
provides emergency heat to more than 100 families every
year.
Lin and five other young volunteers recently received a
Hasbro Community Action Hero Award from generationOn,
proving that anyone can make a difference, regardless of
age.
20
Communities coming together to serve veterans
through the Community Blueprint
CARING FOR RETURNING VETERANS
Over the next five years, one million service men and
women will return from service overseas. Many will face
challenges reintegrating into civilian life. Some will face
unemployment, post-traumatic stress and homelessness.
In 2012, Points of Light, along with support from ITT
Exelis, Lead Partner of Community Blueprint, collaborated
with dozens of nonprofit organizations to help better
meet the needs of veterans, active duty service men and
women, and military families.
A
fter serving nearly nine years in the Navy, Liz
Perez returned to civilian life in southern California
feeling good about a new job and a fresh start. But
Perez faced challenges she never saw coming.
“When you’re in the military, everything you need is on
base,” she said. “When I left, I had no support. I didn’t know
where to go for things like housing or childcare, I didn’t
realize how much is taken out of your paycheck. I had a
really hard time.”
For a short time, Perez and her young daughter were
homeless, relying on a local food bank to eat. A colleague
at the San Diego construction firm where she worked
helped her find a place to live and she slowly found the
resources she needed to get back on her feet.
Liz Perez, veteran and AmeriCorps member
Today Perez is turning her attention to helping other
veterans as part of a big, new partnership.
The Community Blueprint provides a virtual toolbox of
proven programs and resources that can be adapted and
adopted by local coalitions searching for ways to help.
“I want to be able to give veterans the
resources I had to find the hard way.”
— Liz Perez
Liz Perez and 74 other AmeriCorps members, half of whom
are veterans themselves, are serving in 20 Community
Blueprint cities around the country.
“I had to struggle to find answers, but it gave me a passion
to share what I’ve learned,” Perez said. “I want to be able to
give veterans the resources I had to find the hard way.”
$1.9 billion
Value of skills-based volunteer services
pledged by A Billion + Change companies
HELPING COMPANIES DONATE SKILLS
Corporations can bring time, talent and money to help
communities meet critical needs. This year, Points of
Light brought hundreds of companies together to make
the largest commitment of pro bono service in history.
T
hey call it the Branding Blitz.
In just 48 hours, teams from the Advisory Board
Company – a global research, consulting and
technology firm focused on health care and higher
education – swung into action to develop communications
plans and logos for partner nonprofits.
In 2012, Suited for Change, a nonprofit that provides
professional clothes and ongoing career education to lowincome women, was the happy recipient of an updated
brand identity and pitch presentation to help raise funds.
“We were so overwhelmed by the depth of the Advisory
Board team’s understanding – in under one hour – of
the challenges we have been facing,” said Sade Young,
program coordinator at Suited for Change. “Words fail me,
but they never failed them.”
Branding Blitz session with the Advisory Board Company
“Words fail me, but they never failed them.”
— Sade Young, Suited for Change
“It’s our team that’s overwhelmed,” said Drew Zach, a
marketing director for the Advisory Board. “All we did was
use our expertise to improve Suited for Change’s exposure
to clients and funders. The staff and the volunteers are
the ones who develop and deliver a program that literally
transforms the lives of women working to help themselves.”
The Advisory Board Company’s efforts are part of Points of
Light’s A Billion + Change campaign to boost the corporate
commitment of pro bono services to good causes. To date,
more than 260 companies have pledged an estimated
$1.9 billion worth of skills-based volunteer services to help
nonprofits do more for their communities.
10
Start-ups in Points of Light’s first
Civic Accelerator
Today Perez, who has
been pursuing a graduate
degree and running her
own general contracting
firm, is turning her
attention to helping other
veterans as part of a big,
new partnership.
INVESTING TO HELP PEOPLE THRIVE
Lots of people invest in new businesses. Few invest in
start-ups that drive social good. Points of Light and
Village Capital, with support from PwC and Starbucks,
launched the first Civic Accelerator dedicated solely to
investing in ideas that engage people in positive change.
H
opeMob.org is a website “where generous strangers
unite” to provide hope and help to those in need.
“Instead of telling a thousand stories or one
enormous story,” explains founder Shaun King, “we are
telling one, small human story at a time – one person whose
need has fallen through the cracks. We’ll tell their one story
and propose one large solution and we’ll work on that story
until we meet that goal.”
It’s not easy for start-ups like HopeMob to succeed, so
Points of Light recently joined forces with Village Capital to
invest in companies and nonprofits that expand the ways
people can volunteer their time, talent voice and money to
help others. King and nine other entrepreneurs are the first
to benefit.
Shaun King, HopeMob founder
“We are telling one small human story at a
time – one person whose need has fallen
through the cracks.”
— Shaun King, entrepreneur, HopeMob
HopeMob’s supporters rallied in recent months to help the
family of a child with cancer pay medical bills, to help a
man in Haiti send his children to school and buy a moped
to get to work, to help a retired military couple with
debilitating injuries pay for car repairs, paint and a working
garage door.
HopeMob uses filmmakers, photographers and storytellers
from 20 nations on six continents to find, verify and
document pressing needs around the globe. Through its
interactive website, people are given practical – not just
financial – ways to provide immediate help to those who
need it.
250
Points of Light HandsOn volunteer
action centers around the world
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO NEEDS
People want to help their neighbors and build strong
communities. They often just don’t know how. Points of
Light and its affiliates connect people and causes across
the globe.
W
hen Dorothy Reeves walked into the Volunteer
Center of Santa Cruz with a brand new iPhone
still in its box, Ryan Taylor knew just what to do.
A high school senior, Taylor walked the grandmother of
four through all the device’s features, then taught her how
to send text messages, take photos and make phone calls
using video chat features.
Taylor is part of a multigenerational group of volunteers
– made up of high school students and retirees from the
tech industry – who help local seniors take the leap into the
digital world. Designed by the Santa Cruz center’s youth
leaders, monthly workshops provide training on everything
from using social media to uploading photos from a camera
to a computer.
Senior Tech Day with the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz
“It’s fun to teach someone something new
and to know it’s appreciated and put to
good use.”
— Bill McBride, volunteer leader
Bill McBride, a retired IT engineer with HP, serves as a
volunteer leader. “It’s fun to teach someone something new
and to know it’s appreciated and put to good use,” he said.
“In the end, it’s very rewarding because we help seniors
stay connected.”
The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz is an affiliate of
HandsOn Network, Points of Light’s network of 250
volunteer action centers around the country and the world.
$1.9
billion
By the numbers
Value in dollars of skills-based volunteer services
pledged by A Billion + Change corporate partners
$635 Economic value in dollars of volunteer service
million hours mobilized by Points of Light
30 Total hours of volunteer service mobilized by
million Points of Light in 2012
4
Number of volunteers engaged through Points of
million Light this year
250,000
2,200
Number of service projects organized by
Points of Light each year
Number of generationOn clubs around the
United States
250
Number of Points of Light HandsOn volunteer
action centers around the world
100
Families with warm homes this winter thanks to
13-year-old volunteer Cassandra Lin
20
Communities coming together to serve veterans
through the Community Blueprint
16
Countries where Points of Light volunteers are
currently at work
10
Number of start-ups working with Points of
Light’s first Civic Accelerator
1
Number of volunteers
needed to change a life
Points of Light Enterprises
Headquarters:
600 Means Street, NW • Suite 210
• Atlanta, GA 30318 • T 404 979 2900
1625 K Street, NW • Washington, DC 20006 • T 202 729 8000
281 Park Avenue South • 6th Floor • New York, NY 10010 • T 212 850 4170
w w w. p o i n t s o f l i g h t . o r g
© Points of Light, 2012